Topic: How to: Hook up the glove box lights

[Sly Bob]

Every car that I have ever had I either had, or I installed a glove box light. Some were easier to do than others. This was the toughest one to figure out. Easy to do though once you get the parts.

First I had to find a place for a switch. The front of the box is out. Nearly the entire surround where you would normally install a switch has metal reinforcing behind it and I wasn't too keen on cutting into it. On one of the top corners there is no metal but the face is curved so a switch wouldn't sit right. What to do?

I thought that a micro switch off the back of the glove box was the way to go. Went searching for micro switches and I came across these on eBay. Small and cheap, what's not to like? A local electronics shop wanted $9.99 for a single switch so $5.50 with free shipping for 10 of them was a heck of a deal.

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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320565577829&refid=store

The switch was mounted to a piece of aluminum flat stock that I had in the basement. I bent a safety edge on 2 of the edges in a vice to give it more rigidity. I don't know that it was necessary though as the micro switch take very little effort to activate by pushing the arm.

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I mounted the switch behind the glove box on one of the bolts that supports the back of the air bag. In my installation, the ground for the LED is what I have switched. You will see in the following picture where the ground was attached. The bolt that I used to mount the switch was tight and was locked in place with red Loctite so its a tough one to get out. The switch has 2 sets of contacts, one normally open (NO) and one normally closed (NC). As I wanted the current to flow and the LEDs to light when the glove box was open, I used the NC contacts. Had I used the NO contacts then the lights would have been on when the door was closed and off when it was open and backwards from what was needed.

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The LED module is the same one that I used when I did the footwell lighting. They are small and bright and are easy to mount.

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http://www.oznium.com/led-modules

The LED module was mounted to a 3/16" piece of plastic that I glued with an instant Loctite adhesive (Crazy Glue) to the front edge of the plastic across the top of the glove box just above the wire that the glove box latches into. It appears in the picture that the LED module is to the left of where it should be, but the latch for the glove box is to the right of centre on the door.

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The hot wire was taken from the fuse that I installed for the footwell lighting. That circuit is powered all the time and with a separate ground for the glove box light it won't fade like the footwell lights do.

The final result works well. The light turns on when the glove box is opened and it is well lit. The first photo is with the footwell and maplights on.

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With all other lights off.

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Next I have to get some lights in that storage area between the seats.

[DeepBlueGXP]

Great job!

[Kelu]

The final result looks awesome, but sounds pretty complicated. I regret I don't have an electrical wizz like you around me.

[TomatoSoup]

Nice one Mr.Sly!  I had looked into this myself and also could not see an easy place to mount the switch.  I had considered a magnet/reed switch setup but got no further.

Thanks for doing the research!

[Critterman]

Why not a mercury switch mounted to the door?
Looks good, but complicated.

[Sly Bob]

I have updated my original post with a picture of the location of the LED module.

It isn't complicated at all guys. One side of the switch to ground, the other to the LED. The other leg of the LED goes to the same power lead that you get the power from for the footwell lighting. It's just a simple circuit, no ECMs or electronics involved at all. It was tougher getting that piece of plastic in to mount the LED to and you would have to do something like that regardless of what you do with the switch.

I had thought about a mercury switch John but as there isn't a big range of motion on the glove box door I was concerned that the light might turn off and on when the car was in motion. That in its self isn't a problem but I was worried, maybe unnecessarily, that there might be a noise of some sort from the audio system when the mercury switch cycled.

[Sly Bob]

Took another picture tonight from a tripod with all the other lights off and I have put it in the first post.

[Sly Bob]

For those that order the same micro switches as I did and wish to mount the switches with something more substantial than the included screws, it is possible to drill out the mounting holes in the switches. I drilled one of the switches here that I am going to use for the cubby between the seats with an 1/8" drill. Your mileage may vary but a larger hole would allow you to use larger fasteners to secure the switches to a base of some sort.

I just used the included screws without drilling the screw holes out when I mounted the switch for the glove box light.

[Gabes Redline]

Sly Bob,
So I'm attempting this mod and am following all of your directions, the problem is I keep blowing a fuse each time I plug the connectors to the micro switch. My wiring is exactly as you illustrated. Any suggestions?

[Sly Bob]

Did you look at the footwell lighting thread and hook the positive the same way? It's a very simple circuit, positive to the LED and negative from the LED switched by the microswitch. The positive may be shorted to ground somewhere or your microswitch is bad. Try unmounting the switch so it can't short out on anything.

http://www.kappaperformance.com/forum/index.php/topic,1611.msg16762.html#msg16762

[Gabes Redline]

Sly Bob,
I am using the same source for power and the same bolt for ground.  I think I might be pluging in the wires to the switch wrong.  In the image above, you have two wires coming out of the switch, the "COM", Im assuming, is Ground and the "NC" is Power, Right?

[Gabes Redline]

Slybob,
I think I got where I messed up.  Good thing womens volleyball is over otherwise this mod would have to wait for later.  Ill keep you posted.  Thanks so much for getting back to me so fast.

[Sly Bob]

Yeah the connections on the switch are "normally closed" (NC) and the common of course. NC so the circuit is complete when the glove box is open and it's not resting against the switch. That's on the wire to ground not the positive.

Yeah, keep us posted and you know we expect pictures of the result otherwise Kelu will give you one of these.   

 

[Gabes Redline]

Slybob,
I GOT IT!! The solution was literally  !!  It was extremely easy once I knew what I was doing.  I didnt take install pictures other than the final product.  Thank you so much Slybob!!! Now, on to the waterfall compartment llumination mod!! Aside from your how-to on this one, any tips?  Cant seem to mut image on this thread, know how?

[Sly Bob]

You need to post the picture to a photo sharing site and post the link here. Only supporting members can upload a picture directly to the Kappa Performance server. Glad you got everything going and that it works well.

[Sly Bob]

Gabe, I looked through that waterfall storage compartment light thread that I did some time ago and I haven't really anything to add. The install works as well now as it did when I did it a few years ago and I'd do it the same as I did then if I was to redo it.

Now that you have the glove box lights working, you can use the same "+" wire and fuse to power the waterfall lights.

http://www.kappaperformance.com/forum/index.php/topic,5262.0.html

[Gabes Redline]

Hope this works.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p594/GabesRedline/IMG_1268.jpg

[Gabes Redline]

Story of my life.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p594/GabesRedline/ScreenShot2012-07-25at85827AM.jpg

[Sly Bob]

Hope this works.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p594/GabesRedline/IMG_1268.jpg

Awesome! All you need for the picture to display here is to put an IMG tag on either side of the URL for the pic. If you go to "Preview", on the second line across the top you will see a red "Facebook" icon and to the right of that you will see a tiny picture. Click that and put the URL between the tags.

It'll look like this only the round brackets will be replaced with square brackets.

(img)Your URL goes here.(/img)

[miller11386]

why do you have flowers and underwear in your glove box?

[Sly Bob]

Story of my life.

(Image removed from quote.)

That's hilarious!   

[Sol Asylum]

why do you have flowers and underwear in your glove box?

When are you going to learn?

[Gabes Redline]

LMAO!!  Those belong to the old lady.  Shes marking her territory just incase any other women find their way into my passenger seat.

[Critterman]

Bet she is going to love the fact that pictures is now out on the internet.

[Dr. Gronk]

why do you have flowers and underwear in your glove box?

  and adding a nice clean cloth to tidy up afterwards... now that's foresight right there.